Chapter 314
He no longer dared provoke Stella as recklessly as before; this time, he was worried she might not take the bait.
Still, after bidding on so many items, Jasper couldn’t believe Neville would bankroll all of Stella’s extravagant purchases.
Jasper joined several more rounds of bidding. Yet each time, Stella outbid him and claimed the prize.
At first, Jasper felt smug, thinking he’d finally managed to make Stella pay dearly for her stubbornness.
But every time Stella calmly swiped her card and accepted her winnings without batting an eye, Jasper couldn’t help but feel that things weren’t going the way he’d hoped.
ten million dollars,
By now, Stella’s total spending must have crossed well over to
Jasper’s gaze drifted toward Neville.
Neville hadn’t placed a single bid all evening. He simply there, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth, giving nothing away about what he might be thinking.
Jasper, never the sharpest tool in the shed, was starting to feel truly lost.
What the hell was going on?
Did Stella actually want these things or not?)
With this question gnawing at him, Jasper dove into yet another bidding war with Stella.!!
When the price hit nine million, Stella abruptly dropped out.l
What on earth was wrong with this infuriating woman?!
And it wasn’t just Jasper–Rachel, too, couldn’t quite figure out what Stella was up to.
Whenever Jasper drove the price up, Stella would simply bow out; but if Jasper withdrew, Stella would buy the item without a hint of regret.
By now, the auction seemed to revolve entirely around Stella and Jasper, the two of them locked in a private contest
Everyone else watched them with a mix of shock and amusement, as though witnessing two eccentric spendthrifts throwing money away.
Let them duke it out, the crowd thought; either way, tonight’s show was bound to be entertaining.
Before the event, a preview had listed the major items up for auction, and Jasper had marked a few he actually wanted.
But after so many rounds of one–upmanship with Stella, he was burning through his budget at an alarming rate–even before the things he coveted most had come up.
Doing the math, he realized he’d already spent over twenty million dollars!b
Worse suit, he’d blown through the money his grandfather had given him to pick out a birthday present for his mother
it wasn’t until this moment, as Jasper suddenly realized he’d acquired nothing but useless trinkets, that regret began to set in.
Just then, a stunning necklace appeared on display–a pendant set with a deep blue gemstone, sparkling under the lights like the shimmering surface of the sea. Its beauty was absolutely breathtaking.
Rachel’s eyes lit up instantly
“That’s–Neptune’s Tear!”
Neptune’s Tear was the matching necklace to her violin, Nereid’s Sonata.
Legend had it that Neptune’s Tear and Nereid’s Sonata once belonged to a pair of passionate lovers. When the necklace’s owner died unexpectedly, the violinist composed a world–famous piece in her mantory, then disappeared from public life entirely.
Even his beloved violin, Nereid’s Sonata, eventually found its way into the world’s hands.
Some say he died of heartbreak, others claim that when his beloved was gone, he simply lost the will to play, and that’s why he sold the
Whatever the truth, it was a story that tugged at the heartstrings.
Because Nereid’s Sonata was one of the world’s most renowned violine. the value of Neptune’s Tear had soared alongside it.S
But all the legends aside, there was no denying how striking the necklace was–any woman would be instantly captivated by its
Rachel red transfixed at the necklace on display Suddenly, she seemed to realize something and whipped her head toward Haynes. I “Haynie, you-”
Haynes‘ voice was low and steady “I promised you I’d get you a new necklace, didn’1 172
